


The Sun In My Eyes

by SunshineAndRoseWater



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/M, M/M, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 08:52:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4013413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineAndRoseWater/pseuds/SunshineAndRoseWater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Mikey, I don’t know how to tell you this, but your girlfriend’s a vampire.”<br/>Mikey pulls his hands away from his face, staring at Gerard in disbelief. “How high are you right now?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by syrupwit's fanmix [Creature of the Night](http://syrupwit.dreamwidth.org/1819.html) for the Bandom Big Bang 2015

Rae wakes to sunlight filtering through the cracks in the bleachers above her. She groans and rolls over, wondering what woke her in the daylight. Until a pair of dirty sneakers appear in her line of vision.

She follows the shoes, up the skinny legs, up an equally thin torso, to the lean face of a boy staring down at her.

Oh, that’s what.

“Hell of a party, huh?” the boy asks.

 _Oh, my dear, you have no idea_ , she thinks.

“Want a hand up?” The boy offers a hand, just as long and thin as the rest of him.

Rae shakes her head. She throws an arm across her eyes, shielding them from the brutal morning light.

“Sunlight,” she groans.

“Ah,” the boy says.

There’s some rustling and something is draped over her. Rae pulls her arm from her eyes and the devilish sunlight is gone. She shifts, listening to the material rustle. Windbreaker. Covering her head and torso. Pleasant.

“That better?”

Rae nods. She’s not sure how much of the movement the boy sees, but he seems to comprehend her approval.

She hears the boy settle in the grass next to her.

“Are you going to stay here all day?” he asks.

“Yes,” she replies.

“I’m Mikey.”

“Rae.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rae.”

*

Rae decides she likes Mikey. He’s calm and quiet. When he smiles it looks like sunshine, not the kind that hurts her eyes and sends her fleeing to the shadows, but the kind she used to know. The sunshine that warmed her and brought the world to life.

Rae doesn’t actually burn under the sunlight. It’s more like when you first wake up and the brightness hurts your eyes, but after a while the pain goes away. Except Rae doesn’t get to the after-a-while part anymore. It just hurts. Always.

They spend the day under the bleachers, Rae hiding as much of her exposed skin as she can beneath Mikey’s windbreaker. Sometimes they sleep, sometimes the sit silently, sometimes they talk.

Mikey talks a lot. Not at first, but with Rae a captive audience Mikey soon warms up like the noonday sun.

Mikey’s favorite subject is his big brother, Gerard. Gerard is Mikey’s best friend. He also hung the sun and the moon. Not really, but Mikey’s faraway look and sunshine-smile implies that he might as well have, for all he praises Gerard. Gerard’s movie taste is the best and his music taste. He’s also intelligent and talented and he is going to do amazing things and change the world.

Rae nods encouragingly. Throughout her years Rae has seen many people who believe that they will change the world. Many don’t, but some do and those that succeed are never who she ever expected to. So who is she to say whether or not Gerard the Great will change the world?

Something dark clouds Mikey’s face, though, as he says “He doesn’t have time for me anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Rae asks.

“He’s so busy building his portfolio so he can get into a good school. Which is fine, I guess. But then, when he’s not working on his portfolio he’s out with ‘a friend.’”

“What friend?”

“He won’t tell me who.”

 _Ah, I see._ Rae burrows under the windbreaker so Mikey won’t see her smirk. Young love, how irksome. “Maybe you should be out with a friend, too.”

“I’d rather be in with Gerard.”

“But he’s not in, he’s out. So maybe you should be out, too. Not in, alone.”

Mikey’s quiet for a long moment. “I’m out with you.”

 _Indeed you are._ Rae smiles.

Mikey smiles back.

*

As soon as the sun sets below the horizon Rae crawls out from under the bleachers. She’s felt so cooped up that getting out into the twilight feels magnificent.

“C’mon, Mikey, I want to run,” she calls.

“You are so strange,” Mikey responds, crawling out from under the bleachers to join her. He’s tall, taller than her and she measures in at a good 5’9”. “Unwomanly” people used to always say, as if she could shrink to a more “ladylike” height just by sheer force of will. Not that it matters anymore. The human race is growing taller with each passing decade. Where she used to tower over many, she now looks them in the eye. She’s still tall for a woman, but no one tells her that it’s wrong anymore. Soon, she believes, she may be considered average height. And later she may be considered short. Who’s to say? Stranger things have happened.

“I know,” she says. She is strange. She behaves just normal enough to fit in, and just odd enough to keep herself… interesting.

She throws a smile over her shoulder and watches Mikey swallow slowly. _Interested_.

“Run with me, Mikey.”

“I don’t run.”

“Well, then, I shall have to keep your windbreaker.” She takes off across the field. Fast, but manageable. Just fast enough to make him work to keep up, just slow enough to let him catch her.

And he does.

He catches a corner of the windbreaker and pulls her off balance. She could have kept her feet, but she lets herself go, toppling to the ground. Mikey tries to catch her, fails, and falls with her.

They come to a rolling stop. When they finally do Rae becomes aware of laughter. Mikey is laughing, open and free. Rae likes the sound.

When his laughter slows he notices she’s watching him. He glances away from her stare, and then looks back. He shifts nervously.

“What?” he demands.

“Your laugh is beautiful.”

He blushes. “You are so strange.”

“Why?” This time she wants to hear him explain himself.

“Who the hell talks like that? ‘I shall have to keep it,’” he says. “And who tells someone they just met that their laugh is beautiful? Nobody says stuff like that anymore.”

“I do.” Rae is feeling defensive now, just a little. This boy is so young and yet he’s mocking her.

“Why?” he asks.

She shrugs. “Why not?”

He cocks an eyebrow, waiting for more.

She just smiles.

*

Mikey’s mouth taste like sunshine as well.

Rae has spent so long in the darkness. Now she can’t get enough of Mikey’s sunshine.

Mikey can’t seem to get enough of Rae’s… interesting.

Every night Mikey climbs out of his window to meet her at the park. She knows this because he tells her, not because she watches his house. Tempting though it may be, Rae has not followed him home. She doesn’t know where he lives, not exactly. It’s for the best.

He meets her under the streetlight near the covered bridge.

She greets him with a smile.

He greets her with a question. “What are we doing tonight?”

The first few nights they ran. They ran until Mikey’s legs gave out and he collapsed into a laughing heap on the ground. Then she’d straddle him and he’d get quiet. Then she’d kiss him until he was more breathless than before.

She’s always careful. So careful. Mikey’s sunshine tastes so perfect just as it is. Whole. Undamaged.

A few nights later Mikey shows up with a limp.

“Too much running,” he explains with a shrug.

So they sit and they talk and they kiss and they just are.


	2. Sunday

“ _Gerard_ ,” he whines. “I’m _bored_. Pay attention to _me_. _Geeerrraaaaarrrrd_.”

Gerard rolls his eyes and accidentally-on-purpose elbows him while reaching for a pencil.

“You did that on purpose.”

Gerard glances up at the sky as if willing it to grant him patience.

“Would you stop it, Frank?” Gerard complains. “I have to get this comic sketched out before Friday.”

The smaller boy grins wickedly. The expression makes him look like a feral animal and not for the first time Gerard feels himself unconsciously shift away.

“It’s only Sunday, though,” Frank points out. “You have plenty of time.”

“Not if you keep distracting me like this.” Gerard slides deliberately down the picnic bench, taking his sketchbook with him.

Frank scrambles after him, closing the space between them shockingly fast. He throws one leg across Gerard’s lap and shoves his hands under Gerard’s shirt.

Gerard feels a momentary panic, his heart rate racing like a cornered rabbit. The sudden fear quickly subsides as Frank begins to gently nuzzle his neck.

“God, I want you so bad,” Frank mumbles into Gerard’s neck.

“Here?” Gerard gasps, frantically glancing around them. The park is deserted, granted, but it’s still a public park.

“Here, there, I don’t care.” Frank starts kissing his way up Gerard’s neck to his mouth. “I don’t fucking care. I just want to fuck you.”

“You are so romantic,” Gerard quips, practically in Frank’s mouth because Frank will not stop kissing him.

“You love it,” Frank says, sliding his leg in between Gerard’s. Gerard wasn’t aware of how hard he was getting, but the friction causes him to gasp.

“C’mon, Gerard, _please_.”

Gerard relents. “Let me at least get my stuff in the car.”

“Why?”

“Because it looks like it’s going to rain, asshole.”

Frank glances to the sky, taking his attention off Gerard for the first time today. “Huh, so it does.”

Frank lets him up and Gerard starts collecting his supplies.

“You gonna be okay? With the rain?” Gerard asks as he heads for his car.

“Oh yeah,” Frank says, sounding subdued. “A few raindrops hardly bother me.”

“You sure? You could always stay at my place. My parents are pretty cool about letting me have people over.” Gerard pops the trunk and starts tossing his stuff inside.

“Yeah,” Frank says. “You wouldn’t want me over when I’m like this.”

“Like what?”

Frank slips his hands up Gerard’s shirt and runs his nails down his back. Gerard groans and leans on the trunk for support. Frank seems to always know Gerard’s… sensitive areas. The first few times they did anything sexual Gerard never lasted long. Frank just knows how to turn Gerard on.

“Like this,” Frank says, planting a kiss on Gerard’s shoulder.

“Horny?” Gerard guesses.

“Incurably.”

“So I don’t want you in my house, where we could be having amazing sex _in a bed_.”

Frank stops unbuckling Gerard’s belt.

“You don’t want me in your house, _with your family_ , because of what comes after the amazing sex.”

_Oh. Right._

_That._

Gerard turns around and Frank is hugging himself, looking lost and sad. Severe mood swings. Frank warned him about them when he first told Gerard what he was.

Frank warned him about a lot of things. Gerard doesn’t always listen.

Gerard grabs Frank and drags him into a fierce kiss.

“If you get in the backseat I’ll give you a blowjob.”

Frank grins wickedly and Gerard feels then cornered-rabbit panic spark up again. He kisses the smile off Frank’s face.

“Tomorrow things are going to be weird,” Frank warns pulling back from Gerard’s kisses. “Or weird _er_. I don’t want to see you Tuesday. Like, don’t even want you to come to the park. In fact, stay at home if you can. Wednesday… I don’t know about Wednesday…”

“Okay?” Gerard asks, because he can’t decide if Frank’s finished rambling yet.

Frank shrugs. “I guess you’ll have plenty of time to work on your project this week. Now, you said something about a blowjob?”

Gerard rolls his eyes and opens the car door. Frank drags him into the backseat.

*

“Cyber school, huh?”

Rae nods. “I mean, I don’t get the _real_ high school experience, but whatever.”

“The real high school experience is overrated, trust me,” Mikey mutters.

They’re sitting in the covered bridge watching the pouring rain reflected in the streetlights. Rae has her head on Mikey’s chest and Mikey is running his hands through her hair. Every so often his hand gets caught in her wild curls and he has to stop to extract it carefully. Why he hasn’t given up on the action completely is a mystery to her.

Mikey had insisted on getting to know more about her, so now Rae is spinning a few carefully constructed lies. A necessary evil for someone who no longer ages. Cyber school is, in Rae’s opinion, the best invention for someone perpetually teenaged since the advent of document forgery. With cyber school she can have a solid excuse for staying in one town, while never entering the public school. After all, who would willingly spend their immortality going to high school?

“Rae,” Mikey’s voice has that thoughtful, faraway quality to it. “Do you ever think about getting out of here?

“Of course,” she replies. “One day I will. I’ll just pack up and leave. I may look back, I may not, depending on if there’s something here worth looking back on.”

Mikey kisses her. It’s sudden and she’s not entirely prepared for it. He cups his hand around the back of her neck and draws her in. She goes willingly, crawling into Mikey’s lap and deepening the kiss. Mikey slides his tongue into her mouth, he’s sloppy and inexperienced, but Rae is patient and firm and they soon build up a comfortable rhythm.

They break apart to catch their breath.

“You would be worth looking back on,” she admits. As soon as the words are out she’s struck by her own confession. Her heart feels like it turns to stone and drops into her stomach. She’s fallen for a human, it’s a horrible idea, the worst she’s had in decades.

“You’d be worth staying for,” Mikey admits, pulling her in for another kiss.

Rae lets herself get lost in the motions. Mikey’s hand slides from around her neck, down her shoulder, to her breast. When she doesn’t object he slides his other hand down her back and grabs her ass. She grinds into him and he gasps into her mouth. He scrambles to get his hands under her shirt, shoving her bra up so he can grab her breasts while he kisses his way down her neck. Rae leans into his touches. They’re acting like hormonal teenagers, she knows, but it’s been so long since she had this sort of contact she can’t bring herself to be embarrassed.

A vibrating next to her knee breaks the mood.

“Mikey.”

Mikey hums and pinches her nipples and, damn, does that feel good.

“Mikey, I think your phone is ringing.”

Mikey makes some sort of squeaking sound and scrambles to pry his phone from his pocket. With his hands otherwise occupied Rae realizes just how much her shirt and bra are awkwardly bunched up. She tugs them back into place.

“Mom!” Mikey snaps into the receiver. “What is it?”

Rae decides to have some fun. She runs her hand down Mikey’s chest towards his erection.

“I’m out, okay? Just out! It’s Sunday it’s not a- Oh- Ju-”

Mikey grabs Rae’s hand and pulls it off of him. Rae bites her lip to keep from laughing.

“I said it’s Sunday, it’s not a school night. Uuuugh, fine! I’ll be home in ten minutes. Bye!”

He hangs up. “I really have to go, I’m sorry.”

“I know,” Rae says. She climbs off him and he gets up.

Mikey looks out at the rain, which has yet to let up. “This’ll be fun to walk home in.”

Rae shrugs. “Well, at least it’ll cool you off before you get home.”

Mikey blushes. “Yeah, I guess. Uh, same time tomorrow?”

Rae nods.

Mikey steals one last kiss before he runs out into the rain.


	3. Monday

Rae knows Mikey will be upset when she skips their date, but its better this way. Safer. It’s a Monday night so Mikey should be worrying about school anyway.

Tonight is not a night for boys with sunshine smiles. Tonight is a night for blood.

Rae is following a trail of pot smoke. Pot heads are the best for feeding. They’re loose, complacent. The buzz she gets from their blood doesn’t hurt either.

This party is made up of college kids. They’re all vegged out in front of the TV. The bud is all smoked away, but a thick cloud of it still hangs in the air.

Rae slips through the window and selects the nearest one. A stout boy with a punched-in looking face. He hardly reacts when Rae bites into the thick vein in his arm. He so stoned that Rae’s contact high begins almost immediately.

Rae doesn’t know what it feels like to be high for humans. But to her it feels like a separation between mind and body. Like her mind is floating above her and her body just exists. Her body acts without her mind’s consent. Which is how it becomes so easy to drain the boy. Sucking away all his lifeblood and leaving him cold and empty. She hadn’t meant to drink him dry, but she still can’t seem to muster up feelings of regret. She is floating still. It isn’t her that leaves the cold corpse and crawls out of the window; it is a body with her face.

As she flits through the town a small yearning blooms inside of her. She wants to visit Mikey. Run to the park. Taste his sunshine.

The small tendrils of her consciousness that are still holding her body force it to run the other way.

*

Mikey doesn’t take his eyes off the TV screen as the basement door slams and someone comes thumping down the stairs. Onscreen chefs are racing frantically against the clock to get gourmet meals plated.

“Hey,” Gerard says.

Mikey realizes that he can’t remember the last time he talked to his brother. A week? Two? His mind has been so occupied with Rae he can’t remember.

“Whatcha doing?” Gerard asks.

“Nothing,” Mikey says, because it’s true.

Gerard wanders up to him and Mikey can feel him glancing between Mikey sprawled on the bed and the TV where the only female chef just dropped half her dish on the floor. Mikey forces himself to keep his eyes firmly on the screen.

“What’s wrong?” Gerard asks.

“Nothing,” Mikey says, because he wants it to be true.

“Uh-huh,” Gerard says. He flops onto the bed. Mikey makes and _oof_ sound as Gerard’s head lands on his stomach.

“You’re lucky I didn’t throw up on you, asshole,” Mikey mutters.

“As if,” Gerard says, “you haven’t eaten in hours.”

“How would you know?” Mikey snaps

“Your stomach sounds empty.”

“You’re listening to my stomach?”

“It’s right under my ear.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Gerard rolls his eyes and fishes his cell phone out of his pocket. He types out a quick message then tosses his phone to the far side of the room, where it lands on a pile of clothes with a soft thump. Finally he sits up.

“Pick out a movie?” Gerard asks then he pats Mikey’s stomach. “I’m going to get use some snacks.”

“Don’t you have plans tonight or something?” Mikey doesn’t know for sure, but it’s a safe bet.

“I did,” Gerard calls from the stairwell. “I cancelled them.”

Mikey shoots a look after his brother, but Gerard is already upstairs. He hauls himself off the bed and digs through the messy pile of DVDs on Gerard’s shelf. He selects a Godzilla classic and pops it into the battered DVD player.

A movie about a giant reptile won’t remind him of Rae at all.

As he crawls back onto the bed Gerard’s phone buzzes. Mikey considers looking at the text, but decides it’s really none of his business.

Gerard clomps back downstairs, arms full of soda, chips, and various other junk foods.

“You got a text,” Mikey says.

“Okay.”

Gerard drops his pile onto the bed and climbs in to join Mikey.

“You’re not going to answer it?” Mikey asks.

“Nope,” Gerard says, ripping open a bag of chips and offering it to Mikey. “Tonight is a movie night. Just me and you.”

Mikey blinks at Gerard for a moment then he digs his own phone out of his pocket and chucks it to the far corner of the room. He takes the chips from Gerard.

Gerard smiles and retrieves a package of twizzlers.

*

“So you don’t have her number?”

“Nope.”

“And you don’t know where she lives?”

“I don’t think she knows where I live, either.”

“And you don’t even know her last name?”

“It never came up.”

“And you almost lost your virginity to her?”

“Oh my god, Gerard!”

Mikey whacks Gerard on the head with a twizzler.

“This is a serious issue, Mikeyway!” Gerard snaps, rubbing his head. “Do you even know how old she is?”

Mikey hesitates. “…My age.”

“Uh-huh,” Gerard says with a sidelong glance. “I don’t like the sound of this girl, Mikes. I think she’ll give you an STD.”

Mikey mock-vomits. “You are _so_ gross.”

“No, what I am is _so_ worried.” Gerard unearths the remote and pauses the movie, just before Dracula bites his victim. They are two and a half movies into their movie marathon and Mikey finally got the nerve to tell Gerard about Rae.

A sense of dread settles over Mikey, Gerard does not pause his favorite monster movie scenes.

“Look at me, Mikey,” Gerard orders.

Mikey does, very much wishing he were somewhere else.

“Don’t have sex with people you don’t know.”

“But I do-”

“I don’t think you do. Where does she live? What’s her last name? Why haven’t you ever met before now? What’s - I don’t know - her favorite color?”

Mikey doesn’t respond because he doesn't have any answers.

Gerard sighs, tapping the rim of his cup. “I want to meet her.”

“What,” Mikey snaps. “No!”

Gerard throws out his arms, sloshing soda onto the bed. “Why not? Why can’t I get to know her? Why won’t she come over?”

“I don’t know,” Mikey shoots back. “Why can’t I meet your _friend_?”

Gerard goes still. “That’s different.”

“Why?” Mikey asks.

“Because I know who he is, okay?”

“Wait, _‘he’_?”

Gerard’s eyes go comically wide and he claps a hand over his mouth. “Don’t tell dad.”

Mikey takes in Gerard’s terrified expression. He doesn’t know their dad’s opinion on gay people; it’s not something he ever thought about. He’s straight so needing his parent’s approval for dating someone was never a thing for him. Mikey can’t imagine their dad hating anyone based on something they can’t help, but Gerard’s expression tells him that Gerard knows better.

“Okay,” Mikey says. “I won’t tell.”

“Promise?” Gerard asks.

Mikey nods. “Promise.”

Gerard nods and settles back on the pillows, unpausing the film. They watch in companionable silence for the rest of the movie.

As the credits roll Gerard turns to Mikey again.

“Promise me you won’t see this Rae girl again?”

Mikey stares fixedly at the TV. “Sure.”

“You’re lying,” Gerard accuses.

“Yeah.”

“Mikey, please.”

Mikey groans. “Look, she stood me up tonight, okay? So maybe she doesn’t want to see me anymore and maybe you’re worried about nothing. Just let it go.”

Gerard sighs. “Fine.”


	4. Tuesday

Mikey wakes with a jolt as his bed shakes violently. When Mikey opens his eyes Gerard is sitting on a corner of his bed, looking far too energized for - Mikey checks his clock - six AM.

“Wha-”

“Skip school with me today?” Gerard asks, bouncing a little.

“Sure,” Mikey agrees. He’d take almost any excuse to skip school.

“Good! Mom and Dad are going to visit Aunt Marie so we have the house to ourselves for a couple of days. Remember?”

Now that Gerard mentions it, Mikey does remember. He was planning on asking Rae to skip with him at least one day this week. Now he’s not sure she would be willing.

But spending the day with Gerard is a no-brainer.

“Awesome! Let’s continue our monster movie marathon.”  Gerard bounces more, like he’s ready to hop up at any second.

“It’s six AM, Gerard,” Mikey groans.

“Is it?” Gerard sounds genuinely shocked. “I had a really good comic idea.”

“Well why don’t you draw it and I’ll be down later to check it out,” Mike suggests. “I sleep now.”

Gerard scoffs. “Sleep is for the weak.”

Mikey is asleep before Gerard is even out of the room.

*

When Mikey finally stumbles down the basement stairs at ten, clutching two mugs of coffee because it looks as if Gerard forgot to make any, Gerard immediately shoves a sketchbook in his face.

“What do you think?” he asks.

“What’s it about?” Mikey asks, trading one mug for the sketchbook.

“See if you can figure it out without me telling you. I want people to understand my comics without me explaining them.”

Mikey settles on to Gerard’s bed with his coffee and the comic. He can feel Gerard watching him as he flips slowly through the pages.

It’s a story about a teenaged werewolf who wants to go to prom, but can’t because prom night is the same night as the full moon.

“It’s not what you usually draw,” Mikey observes, flipping back through the pages. Gerard tends to avoid high school-related things, calling them dull and unoriginal. And his usual habit of throwing blood and gore into his monster comics whenever possible is missing completely.

“I wanted to do something different,” Gerard explains. “I wanted to have a character that could be used to relate to teenagers and help them deal with bad or embarrassing things.”

“Like turning into a wolf at prom?” Mikey asks.

“Like not having a date to prom. Like tripping over your own two feet and falling into the punch bowl at prom.”

Mikey wonders if those are some of Gerard’s own fears, if he were ever going to prom.

“Well, I’m not getting that. Not yet anyway.” Mikey always tries to be honest about Gerard’s art, with both compliments and criticisms.

Gerard nods. “It’s just a start.”

“So keep working on it. I’m going to put in a movie.”

*

They continue their marathon with the movie I Was A Teenaged Werewolf. Gerard rolls his eyes at the selection, but Mikey just shrugs as if to say “hey, you asked for it.”

They spend most of the morning in silence. Mikey watching the TV while Gerard sketches.

Eventually, when Mikey is sure Gerard is in his ‘zone’ - just far enough to be talkative, but not too far to ignore questions - he speaks up.

“So, tell me about your boyfriend.”

“What do you want to know?” Gerard asks, not losing focus on his drawing.

“What’s his name?”

“Frank.”

“Full name,” Mikey insists.

“Iero,” Gerard responds. He slurs the name a bit so it could either be Eye-ear-oh or Eye-air-oh. Gerard pauses his drawing and repeats. “Frank Iero.”

Definitely Eye-ear-oh. “That’s a weird last name.”

Gerard nods. “I always pronounce it wrong when I’m not thinking about it. I think he gave up trying to correct me.”

Mikey chuckles. “What does he look like?”

Gerard flips through his sketchbook and holds it up for Mikey to see. On the page is a teenaged boy in profile. He had a mop of black hair that looks like its being blown around by the wind. He’s crouched low as if he’s about to pounce and he’s wearing a smirk, like he knows that whatever he’s about to do will be fun.

“You love him,” Mikey says.

“I… uh…”

Gerard is blushing furiously.

Mikey points at the drawing, careful not to smudge the pencil. “You put so much detail into this, more than you usually do. You care. A lot.”

If it’s possible, Gerard gets even redder. He hugs the sketchbook against his chest and chuckles nervously. “I guess?” he squeaks out.

Mikey chuckles too, feeling some of Gerard’s embarrassment second-hand. “That’s kinda how I feel about Rae.”

“It’s not the same, Mikey, You don’t really know Rae.”

“And you know so much about Frank?”

Gerard nods. “He’s told me a lot.”

“Like what?”

Gerard looks away. “I can’t tell you.”

Mikey crawls into Gerard’s space. “Why not? Is it a secret?”

Gerard nods.

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Mikey asks.

“I just can’t.”

Mikey glares at him. “We used to tell each other everything.”

Mikey sticks around just long enough to see Gerard wince under the sting of his accusation. Then he storms up the stairs.

“C’mon, Mikes!” Gerard calls after him. “Please. It’s not my secret to tell!”

Mikey ignores him.

What hurts most is not that Gerard’s keeping a secret, but that he’s found someone he loves more than Mikey.


	5. Wednesday

Mikey skips school the next day as well, but he doesn’t tell Gerard.

He packs his backpack with some lunch and some homework and heads out in the direction of school. Halfway there, though, he doubles back and heads to the park.

Rae isn’t there. He didn’t expect her to be, but he still hoped. Without Gerard Rae is all he has. If he even has her still. He hasn’t seen her for two days so he’s not sure anymore.

He settles on a large rock near the covered bridge to wait for Rae. However long it takes.

*

Gerard wakes to the incessant ringing of his cell phone. He rolls over and snatches it off the ground next to his bed, answering it with a tired “yeah?”

“Honestly,” his mother snaps, “why don’t you boys answer the house phone?”

Gerard grunts noncommittally.

“Are you boys okay?” she asks.

“Uh,” Gerard says, “we’re fine?”

_Just Mikey hates me and it feels like a knife in my gut._

“You sure? Have you heard about the boy who got killed?”

Gerard sits up, suddenly wide awake. “What boy?”

“Some poor student at the college,” she explains. “The police are saying he died under ‘suspicious circumstances.’ Don’t you watch the news?”

“When?” Gerard snaps.

“Last night, I think,” Gerard can practically hear his mother tapping a manicured nail in thought. “Maybe the night before. I just saw it on the news today.”

_Frank_ , Gerard thinks frantically. Frank swore he’d learned to stay in control, but how can he be sure? Gerard already knows how hard it is for Frank to control his sexual urges. His animalistic ones are probably even harder to rein in.

“Gerard?” his mom asks. “Why are you home?”

Gerard pulls the phone away from his ear to check its clock. 3 PM. Shit.

“I stayed home to work on my portfolio?”

“Honestly, Gerard, how are you going to make it through college? You know you have to get yourself to class.”

“ _Mooooom_ ,” Gerard whines.

Fine,” she sighs. “Where’s Mikey?”

“Uh, school?” Gerard heard him leave this morning. He’d left a note and a pot of coffee out after pulling another all-nighter coloring another comic for his portfolio, but Mikey had touched neither.

“Text him, make sure he takes the bus home. I don’t want him running into some crazy killer. And stay in today, both of you. I don’t want you boys going out at night.”

“Sure, Mom. Gotta go.”

They say their goodbyes and hang up. Gerard immediately starts getting dressed.

He has to see Frank. Now.

*

“Look who showed up.”

Mikey jumps and squeaks, toppling off his rock in surprise. It’s a hilarious sight, but Rae is too aggravated to laugh.

Rae remains where she is in the shadow of the covered bridge, watching as Mikey crawls gracelessly to his feet.

“Rae,” he calls, joining her in the shadows, “you-”

“Where were you?” she snaps, grasping his hoodie in tight fists. “You were supposed to be here.”

His eyes go wide, shocked by her anger. “Well, where were you on Monday?” he demands.

She shakes him firmly, hearing the fabric of his hoodie tear. “You were _supposed_ to _be here_.”

Rae had been without her sunshine. For two nights in a row she existed in darkness. The first she carried herself through on the high of the boy she drank from. The second night had felt like the longest of her immortality.

Now he’s back, but his sunshine smile is missing.

_Because you’re being mean, Rae,_ she reminds herself. _He won’t smile just because you demand it._

She smiles, hoping to elicit the same reaction from him. Instead he looks scared, stepping back as far as he can with her hands still clutching his hoodie. She tries a different tactic.

“I missed you,” she pries her hands off Mikey’s hoodie - ignoring the holes she’s torn in it - and runs them gently down his chest, bringing them to a rest lightly on his hips. “This is the longest we’ve been apart since we met.”

“I know,” he says, finally leaning into her touch. “I’ve missed you, too.”

She pulls him in for a kiss and he goes willingly. She pulls him until they are stumbling under the bridge, dragging him to the cool rocks on the banks of the creek.

She peppers his cheeks with kisses until he blushes and laughs and then she gets to taste the sunshine again. And again.

Rae decides something as she lifts her arms so Mikey can remove her shirt and fight to remove her bra. It’s something she’s been considering the past two days. She has decided that she will keep her sunshine to herself, regardless of the cost. She can’t handle the idea of losing it again.

*

“Frank?” Gerard calls.

He hikes through the small wooded area around the lake, but Frank is nowhere to be seen.

“Frank!” he repeats more frantically. What if Frank left? If he really did kill that student it would mean he had to travel ten miles from the expansive state park back towards town. He might not have made it back here. Or he might have realized what he’d done and left for good.

“ _Frank!_ ”

“Here, Gerard.”

Sure enough Frank is there. He stumbles into view like a newborn animal learning to walk. He trips and Gerard catches him.

“My God, Frank, where were you? Someone killed a student yesterday.” Gerard says, holding Frank close.

“Wasn’t me. I was here. Chasing rabbits. Where were _you_?” Frank snaps. He shoves Gerard and the force of his push sends Gerard to the ground.

“Wha-”

“We don’t see each other for two days and you cuddle up with a _vampire_?” Frank hisses. “That vamp is probably your student killer. They were supposed to be _extinct_. How did you find one?”

“Vampire?” Gerard’s aware of Frank’s hatred of them, but Frank told him they were eradicated sometime in the 19th century. He said that none ever even made it to America. “What are you talking about?”

“Your hoodie reeks of vampire!” Frank yells, stepping back as Gerard climbs to his feet.

“This is my brother’s hoodie,” Gerard shoots back. “I spent the past two days with him. How do you even know what a vampire smells like? You told me yourself you weren’t even alive during the Eradication.”

“It’s ingrained into my DNA,” Frank explains. “Lycanthropes and those blood-sucking pests are enemies. It’s an evolutionary defense to know that smell.”

“Well I don’t know any vampires, Frank.” Gerard insists. “Maybe you’re mistaking the scent of something else.”

“Not likely.”

Frank approaches again, more cautiously. Sniffing deliberately. Gerard hates it when he does that.

“Take off the hoodie,” Frank commands. Gerard does, tossing it away.

Frank sniffs around Gerard some more then retrieves the hoodie and inhales its scent.

“Huh,” Frank says. “It _is_ only on the hoodie.”

“See?” Gerard says, exasperated. “You’re just confusing Mikey’s scent.”

Frank shakes his head slowly. “No, I know your brother’s scent. You wore his shoes once. Also, his feet are rank, dude.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about Mikey-”

“What’s he been up to?”

Gerard blinks. “Uh, school? He goes to parties sometimes, but not recently.”

“Is that all?” Frank asks, worrying the fabric in his hands.

“Well he just met this girl that he’s totally infatuat-”

Frank shoots him a look. Gerard’s words die in his throat.

“No,” Gerard insists. “No, that can’t be-”

“Where is he now?”

“Coming home from school.”

“Let’s go.”

*

“Is he answering?”

Frank shakes his head, clicking the ‘end call’ button on Gerard’s cell. “No. You said he was mad at you?”

“Yeah,” Gerard admits. “He’s upset because I wouldn’t tell him about you.”

“You’ve kept me a complete secret from him?”

Gerard shrugs. “Until the other day. Mostly it’s because I wouldn’t tell him about you’re, y’know…”

“Lycanthropy,” Frank finishes for him.

“Yeah, that.”

Frank nods. “Well then that’s what we’ll do, as soon as we find him.”

“Do what?” Gerard chances taking his eyes off the road to look at Frank. He looks fierce, determined.

“We start by telling him about me. If there’s no secret then there’s no reason to be mad at you. Then we tell him about the bloodsucking bi-”

“We don’t know if she is a vampire!” Gerard snaps. “We’re just guessing!”

“She is,” Frank insists. “You’ll see.”

When they get back to Gerard’s house it’s empty. Gerard calls for Mikey, but gets no answer. They head to Mikey’s room. Frank immediately begins investigating the room, informing Gerard of everything he finds.

“She’s never been here,” Frank announces. “Her scent is covering most of his clothes, but nothing else. It’s odd. Most vampires seduce their victims and convince them to let them into the home. Then they murder the whole-”

“Stop talking like that!” Gerard snaps.

“Sorry.” Frank carefully sets down the Batman figurine Gerard got Mikey for his twelfth birthday. “You have no idea where he could be?”

Gerard shakes his head. Between school and home he and Mikey don’t go very many places. The comic book store is ruled out because it’s in a busy part of town, too many witnesses. None of the go-to party places would be hosting anything mid-week either. Not that Mikey has ever attended.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to just track him.”

“Track him?”

Frank picks up Mikey’s pajama shirt and sticks his nose in it, inhaling deeply. When he’s done he balls it up and sticks it in his pocket.

“Take your car,” he instructs, “and try to keep up.”

*

They’re not even fully undressed yet and Rae knows Mikey isn’t going to last much longer. It doesn’t matter much. If all goes according to plan they will have an eternity together to work on his endurance.

Rae nuzzles Mikey’s neck. His skin tastes so sweet.

She bets his blood tastes even sweeter.

She’s about to bite down when a sharp new scent invades their space. It’s musty and dangerous, a scent she knows all too well.

The smell gives her a mere two second warning before the beast is upon them, but it’s enough time for her to shove Mikey off, collect the nearest article of clothing, and put herself between her boy and her enemy.

The beast lunges and grabs her, closing its fist around her windpipe.

“ _Vampire_ ,” it growls.

She smirks and twists enough so that she can bite its hand. It yelps and scrambles away from her. Clearly not a warrior.

She pulls Mikey’s torn hoodie - the only clothing within reach - over her exposed chest and glides to her feet. The beast watches her movements with awe and Rae knows that it’s never actually faced something like her before.

This will be a short battle.

*

“Mikey!” Gerard calls, racing past Frank and Rae to his brother. “Are you hurt? Did she hurt you?”

“Gerard? What the fuck is going on?”

Mikey looks dazed and disheveled, but otherwise fine. His shirt is missing so Gerard pulls him to his feet and takes his hoodie off, handing it over.

“What are you doing here?” Mikey asks. His harsh question appears out of place as he complacently pulls the hoodie on. “Who is that?”

“That’s Frank,” Gerard explains. “And he just saved your life.”

Mikey glares at him, suddenly furious. “I didn’t need _saving_ , you ass.” He covers his face with his hands. “Oh my god, this is so embarrassing.”

“Mikey, I don’t know how to tell you this, but your girlfriend’s a vampire.”

Mikey pulls his hands away from his face, staring at Gerard in disbelief. “How high are you right now?”

“Just look,” Gerard insists, pointing at the others. Just as he does Rae bares her fangs and Frank growls, guttural and threatening.

“What the fuck?” Mikey squeaks out, eyes darting between the two.

“Oh, and my boyfriend is a werewolf.”

Mikey turns his terrified attention to Gerard. “What the _fuck_?”

Frank lunges and Rae side-steps, carving her nails into his shoulder and he rockets past. Frank howls in pain and lunges again. This time he gets her, tackling her to the ground he pins her arms down and bites her neck.

“Are they going to kill each other?” Mikey asks in horror.

_They’re certainly going to try_ , Gerard realizes suddenly. He hadn’t thought about this confrontation beyond the ‘save Mikey’ part, but Frank did say that werewolves and vampires are enemies. They’re going to fight each other to the death if he doesn’t do something.

“Frank! Stop!”

Frank disengages from Rae’s throat, his mouth is dripping with blood and the sight makes Gerard gag. Gore on TV is fine, but this amount of real-life damage is horrible.

Rae seizes the moment and decks him. Frank tumbles off and Rae gets the upper hand, pinning him to the sharp rocks.

“Please,” Gerard begs. “Don’t kill each other!”

“You don’t control _me_ , boy,” Rae growls. “I’m not your puppy.”

“Then what about listening to me?” Mikey asks. “Please don’t kill him.”

Rae looks at Mikey and for a second there is emotion in her eyes that looks open and pained, but it’s gone a moment later. She grabs Frank by his hair and slams his head into the rocks. Once, twice, thrice. The brothers wince at every hit.

“Frank?” Gerard calls. Frank remains limp as Rae climbs off.

“Mikey.” Rae approaches Gerard’s brother, hands out in a non-threatening way. “Come with me. We can get away from all this.”

“What?” Mikey asks, stepping back and almost losing his balance on the rocks.

“Come with me and we can spend an eternity together. You won’t have to worry about sickness, or pain, or brothers who ignore you to spend time with a _dog_.”

“Mikey don’t,” Gerard begs. He’s no match for a vampire, physically, so all he can do is stall and hope that Frank wakes up.

“You _were_ going to kill me,” Mikey says.

“Not kill,” Rae insists. “Change. A better change. Look.”

She wipes some blood off her neck to reveal the wound which is already beginning to heal. “You can have a body like this, forever.”

“And Gerard?”

“He doesn’t love you like I do. Let him play with his stupid puppy, you don’t need him anymore.”

“Mikey, that’s not true!” Gerard says. “I love you, you’re my brother. Don’t listen to her.”

Mikey steps back again, putting one foot into the small creek to get further from everyone. “I…”

Frank tackles Rae, sending her careening into Mikey. The three of them topple into the water.

“Mikey!”

The creek is shallow so it isn’t hard for Gerard to step in and drag Mikey out, away from the warring creatures.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Mikey says, allowing Gerard to pull him up the embankment. Gerard sits him on a large rock on the grass and that’s when he sees the wound.

“You’re bleeding,” he says, unzipping the hoodie so he can get a look at the damage. There are two deep cuts going almost across the length of his stomach. Blood is spilling from them freely.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Mikey says, staring at the wound.

“You’re in shock.”

Gerard whips around and there’s Rae a few feet away, soaked in water. Frank stands next to her, looking like a drowned rat.

“Let me turn you,” Ray offers. “If the dog scratched you you’ll become a werewolf. Let me turn you now and you won’t have to spend the rest of your life with fleas.”

“No,” Frank says. “Let _me_ turn him. He’ll lose a day or two around the full moon, but besides that he’ll be able to go outside in the sun. He’ll be able to live a normal life. If even an ounce of venom is in those cuts he’ll become a bloodsucking killer.”

“At least I can control my actions. Unlike you.”

“And you showed so much control when you killed that student didn’t you?”

Rae glares, but goes silent.

“Fuck you,” Gerard snaps. “Fuck both of you.”

Gerard scoops Mikey up and runs for his car as fast as he can. He buckles Mikey into the passenger seat and starts the engine.

“Wait, Gerard, please.” Frank appears at the car, catching the driver door before Gerard can close it. “Let me help, please.”

“If you love me at all you will let me go right now.” It’s a low blow, but Mikey is bleeding and Gerard has to save him.

Frank lets go of the door, stumbling back like he’s been physically punched. Gerard slams the door and peels off towards the hospital.

In the rearview mirror he can see both creatures. Neither makes a move to follow him.


	6. Epilogue

“Hey, Gerard, what’s up?”

“College is amazing, Mikey! I’ve met so many awesome people. I even have a professor that worked with Stan Lee once.”

“Really? That’s great.”

Mikey hoists his bag further on his shoulder and starts walking. He cuts across the lawn so the noises of the other students don’t interrupt his call.

“Yeah it is. How’re you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Gerard’s tinny voice sounds worried.

“Besides the fact that I’m still stuck in this hell that is high school, I’m good.”

“How’s your stomach?”

Mikey rolls his eyes. “You were here all summer, you know how it is. Fine, besides a pair of scars that look like a botched appendectomy.”

_And it sorta hurts sometimes during the full moon, but that could just be my imagination_.

“You haven’t seen _them_ recently?”

Mikey reaches the part of the walk home where he has to pass the entrance to the local park. His free hand immediately goes to his cross pendant, worrying the pure silver between his fingers. Somewhere in New York he’s sure Gerard is doing the same with his matching necklace.

“No, I haven’t. Not since that one time Frank showed up on our doorstep.”

Mikey’s memory of that day is hazy. It was during his first week home from the hospital and he was still on a lot of painkillers. Still, he remembers Frank trying to wheedle his way into the house until Gerard ran him off, brandishing a piece of their grandmother’s good silverware. It was probably the most entertaining breakup Mikey had ever seen.

Gerard had ordered the matching set of cross necklaces the next day.

“No sign of Rae?”

“None,” Mikey insists.

After that night under the covered bridge Rae had simply disappeared, like a dream in the bright morning light.

Sometimes Mikey has trouble believing she ever existed at all.

On the other end of the line Gerard sighs in relief. “Okay. Well, you should come visit campus sometime. There’s this guy here that you have to meet. You’ll like him.”

“Uh, Gerard, you know I’m not into-”

“Oh shut up, that’s not what I mean. His name’s Patrick and he’s, like, _really_ into music. You two would have so much to talk about. You should come visit so I can introduce you.”

“Uh-huh,” Mikey says, unlocking his front door. “This isn’t some excuse to invite the cute musician over is it?”

“Uh, no?”

“Uh, yeah,” Mikey mocks. He clomps down the basement stairs and flops onto Gerard’s bed. “I have a three day weekend next week. I’ll come up then?”

“Sweet!” Gerard yells. “I’m going to introduce you to everybody. Seriously, Mikey, these people are great. College is awesome.”

“Yeah yeah. Why don’t you get back to your awesome homework, then?”

“I should,” Gerard agrees.

Mikey nods even though Gerard can’t see him. “Talk to you soon?”

“Yeah. Text me whenever.”

“I always do.”

“Love ya, Mikes.”

“Love you, too, Gee.”

 

**_End_ **


End file.
